Liberated Quilting Challenge: AAQI

$60,000 for the University of Michigan and Alzheimer's research.

That's just how much money AAQI was able to raise through the donation of our little art quilts and donate this year. If you remember, last year, Ami Simms and her dedicated band of volunteer assistants had made a previous grant of $30,000 to the same research facility with amazing results. AAQI was one of three grant donating organizations to fund UM researchers into a discovery which rocked the Alzheimer's research world.Now, we are doing it again..only with double the amount of funding!

As Ami said: " I've never been so happy to spend so much money."

And frankly, Ami..we've never been so grateful to be able donate our little art quilts so that this was possible!

As Ami says: And if you're keeping track, the acutal amount was $60, 160.00 It was made out to the University of Michigan for Dr. Mi Hee Lim and her team to continue work on small molecules that break up deposits of amyloid plaque in the brain. That's the substance that seems to cause cell death in Alzheimer's. In smaller chunks, the amyloid plaque can be removed from the brain. Maybe they can figure out how to keep it from clumping together in the first place.

AAQI volunteers hand delivered the check and, of course, brought along some quilts. Quilts from the first traveling show, name quilts created by quilters sewing together small purple patches that many of us wrote the names of loved ones on, and of course, some of our newer donations of Priority quilts.

This grant is by far the largest that the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative has been able to fund so far of the seven that have been distributed. And as Ami says..."Godspeed" to the researchers and the research. As someone who's own life has been forever changed by our own mother's Alzheimer's Disease, we know just how crucial research is..for us, for you, for the world with an aging population.

Thank you Ami, volunteers, quilt makers, and quilt buyers!

Now, ladies and gentlemen...start those machines. It's time to make some more quilts!!!!

Previous Links:
Quilters Finance New Alzheimer's Discovery
Unraveling Alzheimer’s: Simple small molecules could untangle complex disease
Liberated Quilting Challenge
Make and Donate a Priority Quilt to AAQI

Get the latest news about the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative on the AAQI BLOG!
For more frequent news follow the AAQI on FaceBook and Twitter

Not an art quilter? How about wearing art quilt earrings and still support AAQI? See Ami wearing a pair in top photo ;)